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Porsche’s 24 Hours of Le Mans history in numbers

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Josh Barnett

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Everyone knows that Porsche has a record-setting 17 overall victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but its history at the famous French endurance race has produced some equally impressive figures. Here are our favourite numerical facts:

82,643.628km

The accumulative distance covered by Porsche’s 17 Le Mans-winning cars. This is more than twice around the world in a combined 408 hours, meaning that Weissach’s Le Mans wins have been taken at an overall average speed of 125.8mph.

139.31mph

The average speed of last year’s winning car, the no. 19 Porsche 919 Hybrid of Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber and Nico Hülkenberg, making it the fastest Porsche to ever complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

31

The number of drivers to have taken overall victory at least once in a Porsche racing car. Of this contingent, seven of them have secured multiple triumphs behind the wheel of Weissach machinery.

1951

The year Porsche first contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a 1.0-litre Porsche 356 SL Coupe driven by Auguste Veuillet and Edmond Mouche. The Stuttgart manufacturer has been represented at Le Mans every year since.

Seven

The number of consecutive victories secured by Porsche between 1981 and 1987 (most of them during the Group C era). It’s a record that no other manufacturer has managed to beat.

Four

The most victories taken at Le Mans in Porsche machinery. It’s a record held by jointly by Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell. Two of their respective Porsche triumphs were taken together (1981 and 1982).

397

The number of laps completed by Helmut Marko and Gijs van Lennep in their Porsche 917K at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the most laps covered by a Porsche (although last year’s winning 919 Hybrid completed a greater distance thanks to the modern day track’s greater length).

100

The number of class victories Porsche has secured at Le Mans. The manufacturer hit the figure at the 2013 24 Hour race with wins in both the GTE-Pro and GTE-Am classes (the former the first triumph for the then-new 991 RSR).

95m35s

The combined time all three Porsche 919 Hybrids spent in the pits during the 2015 race. The next closest three-car team spent more than 130 minutes in the pits, showing the level of Porsche’s famed reliability.

Nine

The number of Porsche 956s in the top ten of the 1983 24 Hours of Le Mans. The only car that wasn’t a Porsche was the ninth-placed Sauber, leading to the creation of the famous ‘Nobody’s perfect’ poster.